    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 27 (Monday, July 14, 2008)]
    [Page 971]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Message to the Senate Transmitting the International Treaty on Plant
    Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

    July 7, 2008

    To the Senate of the United States:

        I transmit herewith for advice and consent of the Senate to
    ratification the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for
    Food and Agriculture, adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization
    of the United Nations on November 3, 2001, and signed by the United
    States on November 1, 2002 (the ``Treaty''). The Treaty entered into
    force in June 2004.
        The centerpiece of the Treaty is the establishment of a multilateral
    system under which a party provides access to other parties, upon
    request, to listed plant genetic resources held in national genebanks.
    These resources are to be used solely for purposes of research,
    breeding, and training in agriculture. A recipient of such a resource
    must then share the benefits from its use, e.g., a recipient who
    commercializes a product containing an accessed plant genetic resource
    must generally pay a percentage of any gross sales into a trust account.
        Transfers under the multilateral system are to be accompanied by a
    standard material transfer agreement, the current version of which was
    concluded in June 2006.
        Provision of plant genetic resources from U.S. genebanks is fully
    consistent with the Department of Agriculture's long-standing general
    practice of providing access to such plant genetic resources upon
    request. Ratification of the Treaty will provide U.S. agricultural
    interests with similar access to other parties' genebanks, thus helping
    U.S. farmers and researchers sustain and improve their crops and promote
    food security.
        The Treaty may be implemented under existing U.S. authorities.
        I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, the report of
    the Department of State concerning the Treaty, which contains an
    understanding regarding Article 12.
                                                    George W. Bush
     The White House,
     July 7, 2008.

    Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    July 8.